Ligo’s sordid labor practices have surfaced just as social media-savvy owners, Tung family, have been throwing shade at President Rodrigo Duterte and what they believed were superfluous emergency powers and lack of transparency in the government’s food donations during the COVID crisis. One of the Tung brothers, Mikko Lawrence Tung even called government officials “clowns” and “thieves” in a private post.

Netizens reminded the public about the hypocrisy of the Tungs, owner of A. Tung Chingco (ATC) which distributes the Ligo brand in the country, who bragged about their donations in the current pandemic while leaving out 400 contractual workers out in the cold when the Valenzuela government and Department of Environment and Natural Resources shuttered its plant for polluting the environment.

In a February 14 Facebook post, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights said: “LIGO workers, who are mostly contractual, are suddenly left unemployed without any assurance if they will receive any compensation or if they will still have their jobs back. CTUHR have received reports of many workers’ rights violations of ATC through the years, such as labor only contracting, forced overtime, long working hours and unsafe working conditions.”

“We also appeal to the Valenzuela LGU and DOLE to hold into account the protection of the 400 workers jobs and their families. The workers should not be punished for the violations of their employer,” CTUHR said. .

CTUHR reopened a few days later but it was not revealed if the Tungs settled their violations. “Some workers were reinstated but some already looked for other jobs,” said CTUHR. .

Amid the call to boycott Ligo, the labor group said: “We posted that as a challenge to the company to abide by environmental laws and internationally recognized labour standards and local government requirements, while protecting the workers’ job security. The company has re-opened after a week, but there remains to be points for improvements in the working conditions in the company.”

It then went on to welcome Ligo’s “bold and creative expression of their stands amid various pressing issues today and their acts of corporate social responsibility” which has received “hateful comment” on social media.